If you already have any Bosch 18V battery you’re good to go with this tool. Otherwise you’ll need to purchase a battery and charger. There are 4, 6, 8 and 12 Ah battery packs to choose from. If you’ll only be using the planer intermittently and you don’t have any other Bosch power tools, a 4 Ah battery is a good choice. The runtime with a 4 Ah battery is exceptional, thanks to the 72 watt-hour rating of the battery (which indicates the amount of usable energy) and the efficient energy transfer provided by its brushless motor.

One of the stand-out features on this planer is how easy it is to set a precise depth-of cut. By rotating the front knob grip you can click through a series of 28 detents that provide precise cutting depths in .00334″ increments up to 3/32″. That’s an impressive level of precision.

The planer comes with two 3-1/4″ double-edged micrograin carbide blades. The counterbalanced cutterhead holds a single blade that cuts just as smoothly as models that have a two-blade cutterhead, and the blade does an excellent job whether planing hard or softwood. When one edge gets dull you simply reverse the blade to expose a fresh edge. A two-pack of Bosch Woodrazor replacement blades (#PA1202) cost abut $16. There is convenient on-tool storage for 2 blades, which means you don’t have to hunt around for a replacement blade. To prevent accidents you have to remove the battery in order to access the on-board blade-change wrench. To change the blade you remove two small grub screws, knock out the blade and then slide a new one onto the cutterhead. The blade is self-aligning. It’s quick and simple, and you’re back to work in under a minute.

When you adjust the cutting depth the front and rear shoes always stay parallel to each other, which results in perfectly flat cuts.  As you’ll find on just about all planers there is a parking foot at the back of the rear shoe that automatically swings so you can put the planer down without waiting for the blade to stop spinning.

On the bottom of the front shoe are three V-grooves that enable you to bevel the edge of stock from 2mm (about 1/16″) to 9mm (just over 5/16″) wide. It makes for a quick way to break sharp corners, especially when working on very long stock.

The fence is quick to install when you need to make a square-edged pass. The fence doesn’t run the full length of the base and it can’t be adjusted to make bevel cuts. In a pinch you could drill a couple of holes in the fence and attach a longer (or bevelled) wood sub-fence.

You can choose to eject chips from whichever side of the planer you want simply by flipping a lever. The dust bag does a good job of keeping wood chips from flying all over the place. You can also connect the planer to your dust extractor or shop vac.

I tested the Bosch power planer by flattening rough stock before heading to the jointer, truing up the edge of stock before ripping it on the bandsaw and tapering some stock for legs on a kitchen table. It performed flawlessly even on Ash and Sapele with a fair amount of interlocking grain.

There isn’t much not to like with the Bosch GHO18V-26N PROFESSIONAL power planer – it’s light in weight, easy to control, has  precise depth-of-cut control, easy blade change and ample power and speed to deliver clean cuts on hard and softwood.